Internships abroad have personal benefits for all participants and contribute to the internationalization and improvement of the overall quality of Austrian vocational education, especially in the participating institutions. The specific objectives of the project were: - Expanding the professional, personal, linguistic, and intercultural competencies of participating apprentices and students through relevant internships abroad, recognized as part of their education in Austria. - Increasing apprenticeship mobility by supporting Austrian training companies in accessing funding for the mobility of apprentices. - Conducting stays for training supervisors, who, as multipliers, contribute to the increase of apprenticeship mobility. - Further expanding the network of reliable and competent partners and host companies in all European countries. - Involving all professional groups and regions in Austria, especially those that have not previously or only to a limited extent participated in European mobility.
IFA is a non-profit organization that has been organizing mobility programs for individuals in initial vocational training, skilled workers, and training supervisors since 1995. Since 1995, IFA has enabled more than 10,000 individuals to participate in EU-funded stays abroad. IFA is the applicant and coordinating institution for the project, and as such, is responsible for both the quality and proper implementation. IFA is the only organization operating nationwide in Austria that allocates funding to individuals for apprenticeship mobility on such a scale. For apprentices, compared to students, it is still more challenging to access Erasmus+ funding. Vocational schools, which are actively applying for funding, typically only support apprentices from their own school and often do not have a budget for individuals organizing their own stays. In addition, all students whose schools have not applied for Erasmus+ funding can directly apply to IFA for support for their international internships. Without IFA's involvement, many individuals would be denied the opportunity to participate in the Erasmus+ program.